Albert Armendariz Sr., LULAC’s 22nd President, Known For Being a Passionate Advocate of Civil Rights Dies

“Albert Armendariz who as National President of LULAC helped change the landscape for Latinos in Texas and nationwide died Thursday in a Brownsville, Texas, hospital following surgery two weeks earlier.

Mr. Armendariz is best remembered in 1954, while serving as president of LULAC, Armendariz helped argue Hernandez vs. the State of Texas, a landmark case that established Latinos as a distinct class entitled to protection under the 14th Amendment.

He also served in the Army during World War II and that helped instill in him a new sense of value and public service. He came back to become a prominent civil rights attorney.

In El Paso in the late 1950s and early ’60s, Armendariz served on the El Paso Civil Service Commission and is credited with helping to open the city’s police and fire departments to Mexican Americans.

Representing MALDEF in the 1970s, Armendariz argued Alvarado vs. El Paso Independent School District, a landmark case that resulted in a federal court order requiring desegregation in El Paso schools.

Armendariz was born Aug. 11, 1919, in El Paso, one of seven children. Before World War II, he worked as a shoe salesman and an auto mechanic.

In addition to his eldest son, Armendariz is survived by his second wife, Mari; sons Edward of Greer, S.C., John David of El Paso and Larry of Nashville; and daughters Maria Leticia Robert of McAllen, Texas, and Mary Lou Contreras of El Paso.

The League of United Latin American Citizens, the largest and oldest Hispanic membership organization in the country, advances the economic conditions, educational attainment, political influence, health and civil rights of Hispanic Americans through community-based programs operating at more than 700 LULAC councils nationwide.”*

• Ricardo Salinas Breaks Ground for What Will Be the Most Modern Television Studio in Latin America – Mexico City
• Brazil replaces Mexico as China’s top market in Latin America and boosts its surplus as well.
• LULAC has redesigned their website – (look much better imho – on a tech note there are a few RSS problems)
• LULAC is asking a judge to prevent Ohio state officials from canceling the registrations of more than 40,000 vehicles apparently driven by undocumented immigrants. – filed the lawsuit against state officials in Franklin County Common Pleas Court this morning.
• U Visa: Protection for illegal immigrants – Visa U: Protección para inmigrantes ilegales víctimas de delitos
• In Argentina, One Person Dies Every 28 Hours from Police Repression
• At-risk Hispanic students get a hand up in after-school program at Bonnabel – Louisiana
• Mexican doctors pointed to parents as the reason Mexico leads the world in child obesity, a problem made worse in this country by the lack of sports training.
• LatAm Immigrants Are Changing Spain, Sociologist Says
• “They” Are “Us”: The Devastating Effects of Broken Immigration Policy on Children in Immigrant Families
• Angel Reyes Interview About Child Safety In Cars On Good Morning Texas
• Interview with Children’s Author Lucia Gonzalez – Gonzalez’s latest children’s book, The Storyteller’s Candle, is dedicated to Pura Belpre
• Police in Peru say gang members killed people to drain their fat for cosmetics
• The current global crisis will cause the number of poor people in Latin America to rise by 9 million to 189 million this year, the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean said in a report presented on Thursday.
• Do Long Island Police Ignore Hate Crimes?
• The leader of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Latin American division, Vicente Trius, is leaving the company after having served less than five months in the position.
• Beginning with the 2009-2010 season, Terra will stream select games live throughout Latin America, in both Spanish and Portuguese
• USDA data shows more Latino children going hungry
• The wave of crime besetting Puerto Rico seems to be out of control with 800 murders being committed here so far this year, but the island’s top police official says the problem does not fall exclusively within his department.
• The University of Panama indefinitely suspended classes on Wednesday after confrontations between students and police during a protest against alleged U.S. involvement in plans to build new military installations.